Blue Ponies wrangle Rustlers

The Havre High girls basketball team had one final test before taking time off for the holiday break and, against Class AA rival CMR, the Blue Ponies passed with flying colors.

While it certainly wasn’t a dominant performance by any means, Havre took the Rustlers best shot, but pulled away in the second half for a 61-48 victory. The win pushed Havre’s record to 6-0 on the season and, overall, it was the 30th consecutive win for the Ponies.

“It was a nice team victory for our guys,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “I thought that our five that come in off the bench did a nice job. They played really well together and I am really proud of them. They were making extra passes, getting stops defensively, so we will take that and continue to get better.”

One of the players coming off the bench that who Kraske was referring to was Sadie Filius, a freshman who scored a game-high 16 points in the win. Filius was one impact player off the bench and another was Jessa Chvilicek. The junior scored the first two of her 10 early in the second quarter on a jumper that was assisted by Filius. At that point, Havre was up 13-10 but the Rustlers, thanks to a 3-pointer by Marley Calliham, kept within striking distance.

However, on the other end, Filius connected on a layup, a short jumper and converted a three-point play, scoring nine of Havre’s last 12 points in the second quarter and giving the Ponies a 25-20 halftime lead,

“Good for her,” Kraske said of Filius' 16 points. “She is a very composed youngster. She has been around the game and she understands it and did a good job. What’s nice is that with her, every shot she shot, it wasn’t forced. It was within the rhythm of what we were trying to accomplish.”

In the third quarter, Kyndall Keller and Kadia Miller got in on the act, as Keller knocked down a 3-pointer while Miller scored inside to put Havre in front 32-24. Filius and Chvilicek each hit from beyond the arc soon after, and suddenly it was 40-27. Chvilicek connected on another trey before the quarter ended, giving Havre a 43-31 advantage.

In the fourth quarter, CMR put together an 8-2 run that featured two 3-pointers from Calliham, who finished the game with 16 points. The spurt cut the Havre lead down to 45-37, but five straight points from Keller pushed it back to double digits at 50-37. Filius, who knocked down a trey of her own earlier in the quarter, connected again from deep. Minutes later, Keller did the same and that proved to be the dagger with HHS in front 59-42.

“I thought that we played a little better in the second half,” Kraske said. “We played a little more together and a little harder. We are getting pushed a little bit, so that is good.”

While Filius led the way for the Ponies with 16 points, she was just one of three Havre players to score in double figures. Keller finished with 12 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Chvilicek put together 10 points in the win for Havre, which also got six each from Katize Wirtzberger and Kadia Miller.

Calliham scored 16 points to pace CMR. Allie Olsen added 14 points in the loss.

Havre (6-0) will be off until Jan. 3 when the Ponies will host Class B rival Rocky Boy in a non-conference matchup.

Havre 61, CMR 48

CMR 3 17 11 17 - 48

Havre 9 16 18 18 - 61

Havre: Sam Oliver 1, Kyndall Keller 12, Loy Waid 4, Kadia Miller 6, Kassidy Compton 2, Katie Wirtzberger 6, Lauren Kato 4, Sadie Filius 16, Jesse Chvilicek 10.

Great Falls CMR: Allie Olsen 14, Lauren Lindseth 5, JJ Slater 1, Emily Funseth 6, Marley Calliham 16, Kiely Gunderson 6.